The Tug Trip
Men's Journal|August - September 2022
Chasing grizzlies and pushing deep into coastal British Columbia aboard a uniquely Canadian touring vessel.
By Steve Russell
The Tug Trip

Like almost any small commercial marina, the one in Kitamat offers a vista of bobbing prawn boats, orphaned trailers and jumbles of rusting mystery equipment. Sprawled on the opposite shore is a multinational-owned aluminum smelting plant. As my conveyance and home for the next week, the touring tug Swell, chugs away from the dock under a chilly rain, I assume more such sights lie ahead. But when the smokestacks dwindle in our wake, a gaze off the bow reveals miles of deep, choppy channel flanked by steep forests and exposed peaks blanketed in melting snow that produces waterfalls gushing through the evergreens down to the craggy shoreline. From high perches, eagles pause their hunting to sternly eye our progress.

This swift, full dose of coastal British Columbia will define a journey intended to transport us via increasingly remote waterways north of Vancouver through the Great Bear Rainforest on the way to isolated Kitlope Lake, if weather and water levels cooperate. There will be shore-tromping excursions, and we've all but been promised up-close sightings of a variety of local wildlife. Some of my fellow passengers are card-carrying, telephoto-toting birders, but frankly, unless a feathered creature is the size of a pterodactyl, I can't be bothered. I'm intent on an encounter of the megafauna kind, as this region boasts more brown and black bears than you can shake a stick at-not that I hope to find myself shaking a stick at either.

This story is from the August - September 2022 edition of Men's Journal.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the August - September 2022 edition of Men's Journal.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM MEN'S JOURNALView All
Fantasy League
Men's Journal

Fantasy League

Inflation, war and endless political campaign ads got you down? Hollywood wants to take you far away.

time-read
2 mins  |
August - September 2022
The Tug Trip
Men's Journal

The Tug Trip

Chasing grizzlies and pushing deep into coastal British Columbia aboard a uniquely Canadian touring vessel.

time-read
9 mins  |
August - September 2022
Death, Incorporated
Men's Journal

Death, Incorporated

How Putin's mercenary army known as the Wagner Group does the Kremlin's dirtiest work in Ukraine and in conflict zones around the world.

time-read
10+ mins  |
August - September 2022
Cynthia Addai-Robinson
Men's Journal

Cynthia Addai-Robinson

The British-born actor trades the Shire's misty mountains for a fantasy island in Amazon Prime's prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

time-read
3 mins  |
August - September 2022
Idris Elba – Been Around the Block
Men's Journal

Idris Elba – Been Around the Block

Superstar actor Idris Elba hits 50 in September. But we might have not seen his prime yet.

time-read
6 mins  |
August - September 2022
American Ruins
Men's Journal

American Ruins

This country's unmatched and unlimited industrial might helped define the 20th century. But that was then, and this is now.

time-read
10 mins  |
August - September 2022
NICK KROLL
Men's Journal

NICK KROLL

The comedic powerhouse and man of many voices behind Big Mouth and Human Resources returns to the big screen in the star-studded thriller Don't Worry Darling.

time-read
2 mins  |
August - September 2022
HAIL TERRY
Men's Journal

HAIL TERRY

Four-time Super Bowl champion, avuncular television football analyst and all-around entertainer TERRY BRADSHAW's secret to career longevity? Letting it rip.

time-read
3 mins  |
August - September 2022
EVOLUTION OF Z REVOLUTION
Men's Journal

EVOLUTION OF Z REVOLUTION

How Nissan reinvented the smart, soulful sports car.

time-read
2 mins  |
August - September 2022
PLUNGE RIGHT IN
Men's Journal

PLUNGE RIGHT IN

Mallorca's cliff-lined coast is the peak playground for deep-water soloing-as grippingly demonstrated by the emerging sport's top climber.

time-read
2 mins  |
August - September 2022